Blog based on Facebook posts made by Alex Reid during a trip to Yallingup to celebrate our 60th wedding anniversary in May 2024 (and a couple of add-ons at the end!).

Click on any image to get a higher-resolution version.

Tuesday, 7-May-24:

We drove down to Yallingup where we had rented a chalet overlooking Smith's Beach.

Great view out over the beach and waves...

Here's a view from up the road down over Smiths Beach and the resort complex. Our apartment was at the far Left end of this group. Then a couple more photos of Smiths Beach and the rocky Left (West) end.

Wednesday, 8-May-24:

On our second day at Smith's Beach, we drove into Busselton and took the train the length of the jetty (1.6km) to the underwater observatory, which was quite stunning, as you can see!


At the Observatory...

On returning to our apartment, we found we had visitors...

Thursday, 9-May-24:

On our 3rd day at Smith's Beach (the day of our 60th wedding anniversary), we drove to nearby Canal Rocks (after noting a visit from a couple of fairy wrens)...


Canal Rocks (and resident crab).

That evening, we watched a lovely sunset, then walked 50 metres or so to Lamont's Restaurant, where we had a lovely meal (I especially appreciated the pavlova dessert!!):

Friday, 10-May-24:

On our 4th day, we drove home, stopping at Sugarloaf Rock (nearly as far as Cape Naturaliste Lighthouse, but with a great view up the coast), and again at Meelup Beach, stopping also at Dunsborough Bakery for coffee and cake (in lieu of lunch!), then home.

Prior to going to Yallingup, we celebrated in another 2 ways.

We did this by first going on a 3-night cruise out of Fremantle, on the P&O Pacific Explorer, which sailed up the coast, initially within sight of land (eg of Observation City, Scarborough, near our house), but then far enough out to sea not to be able to see land, but going as far North as Kalbarri and then turning around back to Fremantle. Note that from the ship while docked you could see my old high school, John Curtin HS, on the horizon in the centre of the photo. Within the harbour, you can see the Port Authority building (with the SS Leeuwin docked in front of it), and the Maritime Museum (housing Australia II, the first yacht to wrest the America's Cup from the USA).

Secondly, on the day the ship returned to port, we had a luncheon at Tom's Italian for the family (sadly, I was remiss in not getting photos taken when Dave & Karen were still with us).


7-Nov-24